Coltaine
Coltaine was the leader of the Wickan Crow clan. Around forty years of age,Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 1, US HC p.53 he was described as having a lean, expressionless lined face with deep brackets around a thin, wide mouth, and squint tracks at the corners of his dark, deep-set eyes. He wore his hair in oiled braids which hung down past his shoulders, knotted with crow-feather fetishes. He was tall, wearing a battered vest of chain over a hide shirt, a crow-feather cloak hanging from his broad shoulders down to the backs of his knees. He wore a rider's leggings, laced with gut up the outer sides to his hips. A single horn-handled long-knife jutted out from under his left arm.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 1, US HC p.40Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 2, US HC p.53 He carried a black feathered round shield on his left arm. Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 19, US HC p.510 Coltaine originally united the Wickan clans in an uprising against the Malazan Empire. That uprising failed, but somehow the then Emperor, Kellanved, managed to persuade Coltaine to pledge loyalty to the Malazan Empire.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.51 He became the first Wickan Fist in the Malazan military. Coltaine was known to isolate himself from his people with a stoicism beyond the Wickan norm.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 13, US HC p.348 But they followed his orders without question. He was a supremely talented commander and possessed an uncanny knowledge beyond understanding. The Wickans followed him in awe.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 16, US HC p.428 He half-jokingly referred to his second-in-command Bult as his uncle, although the veracity of this claim was left unclear.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 3, US HC p.91 Later, as leader of the Chain of Dogs, he became a curse upon the lips of the warriors of the Apocalypse whilst others worshipped him. In Deadhouse Gates ] Like others of the old Emperor's commanders, Coltaine had been side-lined by Laseen. A change in the political situation however led to him being recalled from the backwaters of Quon Tali to take command of the 7th Army on Seven Cities.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.52 His presence was initially unwelcomed by his own officers as many had fought against him on the Wickan frontier.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 1, US HC p.39 Coltaine's arrival at Hissar was observed by Mallick Rel, chief advisor to High Fist Pormqual, the historian Duiker, and an unnamed captain of the 7th. The Wickans looked to be on the verge of causing a riot when, at a bellowed command by Coltaine, order was restored within less than a minute.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.50-53 The Fist earned Mallick's enmity by allowing Bult to deliberately insult and dismiss him from the 7th's command council.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 2, UK MMPB p.73-80/82 The Fist immediately began training the Malaz 7th Army in guerrilla tactics with his Wickan warriors. When the Whirlwind began its rebellion, this training proved prescient, allowing the army to escort and protect the tens of thousands of refugees accompanying them to Aren. Along the way, he successfully led the vastly outnumbered army in battle against the various tribes and city legions who sought to kill them. When the Fist struck and bloodied the near-Ascendant Gesler's nose at Vathar Crossing, his warlocks Nil and Nether gasped in recognition that Coltaine himself appeared to be on the path to Ascendency.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 16, US HC p.430 Before the Battle of Sanimon, the exhausted Chain of Dogs received a fortuitous gift from renegade Malazan Fist Dujek Onearm. Aided by financing from the T'orrud Cabal in Darujhistan, the Fist contracted the Trygalle Trade Guild to travel through the Warrens to deliver three massive carriages full of provisions. Additionally, Coltaine was presented with an ensorcelled bottle of smoky glass on a chain which he was instructed to wear at all times because "the Empress must not lose you". The bottle was created by Quick Ben and was intended to capture Coltaine's soul in case of his death. Coltaine dismissed the gift, passing it on to Duiker instead.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 19, US HC p.503-508 Coltaine succeeded in bringing the majority of refugees to safety within the walls of Aren. But he and his soldiers were forced to make a final doomed stand outside the city's gates. High Fist Pormqual, with Mallick Rel at his side, refused to authorize a sortie to aid the Wickan Fist. When the last of Coltaine's soldiers fell, enemy commander Korbolo Dom had the Fist crucified as ten thousand Malazan soldiers watched and were broken by their own helplessness. Dom's High Mage Kamist Reloe then used his powers to prevent an uncountable number of crows from retrieving the Fist's soul for reincarnation. Aren Guard commander Blistig called for his best archer, Squint. With uncanny aim, the man fired an arrow from the wall into Coltaine's head, killing him. The crows then descended upon the dead Fist, covering his body, and when they flew off again he was gone. The Chain of Dogs was at an end.Deadhouse Gates, Chapter 22, UK MMPB p.858 Later, a pregnant woman in Wickan lands learned her child was an empty vessel, and she readied to abort it. But before she could act, she was engulfed in a cloud of crows and felt the child stir.Deadhouse Gates, Epilogue In Memories of Ice ] The High Alchemist Baruk of Darujhistan sent a bhokaral servant to Quick Ben while the Seven Cities rebellion was ongoing offering his assistance and alliance. Among the string of words the inarticulate beast shouted was "Coltaine!"Memories of Ice, Chapter 21, US SFBC p.776-777 Many weeks later, Duiker shared the story of the Chain of Dogs and Fist Coltaine of the Crow Clan with the surviving Bridgeburners at the opening of K'rul's Bar.Memories of Ice, Epilogue, US SFBC p.997/1000 In House of Chains ] After Coltaine's fall, the Aren markets thrived with the sale of relics from the Chain of Dogs. Among them were said to be pieces of Coltaine's withered flesh.House of Chains, Chapter 11, US SFBC p.413 The hill where he and his men had perished came to be known as the Fall and was a place of pilgrimage. Decorated with fetishes, the site was visited unseen at night by pilgrims who included Coltaine's enemies, the Kherahn Dhobri, Bhilard, and Semk, as well as the Khundryl.House of Chains, Chapter 11, US SFBC p.408-409 Coltaine was described as cold iron by Mathok, who also stated that the Fist had fought and defeated the hot iron Korbolo Dom in eight of nine major engagements. The only battle he lost had been the last.House of Chains, Chapter 18, US SFBC p.597-598 Temul told Fiddler that Coltaine had been reborn to a woman of the tribe whose child had once been empty before the crows came.House of Chains, Chapter 11, US SFBC p.424 In Return of the Crimson Guard ] Coltaine's sacrifice was completely misunderstood and ignored in the Malazan homeland. Instead he was known as the "fiend Coltaine", who along with his "traitorous Wickans" had led the Seven Cities rebellion himself.Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 1 Chapter 2, US HC p.64Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 2 Chapter 3, US HC p.329 His rebirth was expected by the Wickan elders, and it soon came to pass.House of Chains, Chapter 11 During tensions on the Wickan Plains, a group of Crow elders and children sought refuge in the Malazan border fort commanded by Lieutenant Rillish Jal Keth. The fort was soon besieged by angry Malazan settlers determined to exterminate the Crow. Rillish refused to turn over the Wickans, but as the fort fell to the invaders the Wickan elders conducted a bloody ritual to open a magic gateway for the soldiers and children to escape.Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 1 Chapter 5, US HC p.224-225 As the group travelled further into Wickan lands for safety, Rillish noticed a child carried upon a travois, doted on and surrounded by the other children. They were soon joined by the twins Nil and Nether late of the Malaz 7th Army, who kissed the boy and studied him in wonder.Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 2 Chapter 1, US HC p.277 Rillish doubted the claims that the child was Coltaine reborn until, moved by the Wickan's plight, he offered to resign his Malazan commission. Quotes Fan art gallery Spoiler free images= Coltaine by Sarinjin.jpg|link=File:Coltaine by Sarinjin.jpg|Coltaine by Sarinjin Coltaine by Dejan Delic.jpg|link=File:Coltaine by Dejan Delic.jpg|Coltaine by Dejan Delic |-|Spoiler images= Coltaine's Fall by GenKael.png|link=File:Coltaine's Fall by GenKael.png|Coltaine's Fall by GenKael Heroism and murder in one act by efirende.png.jpg|link=File:Heroism and murder in one act by efirende.png.jpg|Coltaine's death by Efirende The Fall by Ylva Ljungqvist.jpg|link=File:The Fall by Ylva Ljungqvist.jpg|The Fall by Ylva Ljungqvist Notes and references de:Coltaine pl:Coltaine Category:Males Category:Wickans Category:Fists